Spring-bed



J. T. ELWELL.

SPRING BED.

No. 257,303. Patented May 2, 11882.

www m` y UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OEFICE.-

JAMES T. ELVELL, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

SPRING-BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,303, dated May 2,1882.

Application lcd June 2S, 1879.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JAMEs TALMADGE EL- WELL,of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, havemade certain new and useful Improvements in Spring- Beds, whichimprovements are fully set forth in the following specification andaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a sectional side view ofthe mattress, the lower view representing a portion of the mattress`broken away and one method of securing the webs to the end rails; andFig. 2, a plan view.

My invention relates to wire mattresses 5 and it consists in theconstruction hereinafter particularly described, and then sought to bespecifically defined by the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, the letters A A' indicate the top andbottom webs, which are both made of woven wire of the same iiexibility,so as to give or yield alike, and thereby aid the other means, presentlyto be described, in preventing the mattress from sagging-or, in otherwords, from distending or stretching unequally. If the webs do notstretch or expand equally, one of them becomes longer than the other,and then sags or hangs in a baggy manner, which destroys the evenness ofthe mattress-surface and renders the mattress unsightly anduncomfortable. The webs A A' are suspended at their ends from the endrails, B B', and hang between the side rails, but not connected thereto.The webs may be connected to the end rails by having one web connectedto the top of the rail and the other to the bottom thereof, asillustrated in the upper view of Fig. 1, or both webs may be passed overthe top of the rail, as illustrated in the lower View of the samefigure. The end rails fit in iianged caps O C', bolted or otherwisesecured to the side rails, B, near their ends. The caps O' are iiangedand long enough to allow the rail B' to slide therein in the directionof the length of the mattress, so that by sliding the rail outwardly thewebs may be drawn taut after they have become loose by reason of thewires having stretched. By reason, however, of the two webs being of thesame iiexibility and their connection to the end rails,l as described,they in use stretch,

equally, and hence in being drawn taut are drawn equally, and there isno more strain on one than on the other when taut, as would be the casewere the webs of different degrees of flexibility and they not securedas set forth.

The end rail, B', is moved by means of setscrews b, which pass throughthe ends of caps C' and bear against the edge of the movable end rail.The flanges of the caps O' guide the rail B', and the webs are moreequally distended and the parts more securely held to their places andoperated than they could if the rail were hinged and made necessary tothrow back in order to make taut the webs.

Springs e are interposed between the webs near the middle of themattress, and are secured at the tcp and bottom to the webs instead ofto strips extended Vacross either web. When strips are extended acrosseither web and the springs connected to them the webs will not distendequally and will not be equally iieXible, for the strips will stiifenthe webs at parts and also prevent equal expansion.

I do not claim broadly "a wire mattress suspended from end rails, nor amattress composed of two webs with springs between, nor means fordrawing taut the mattress-web, for I am aware that springs have beeninterposed between two wire webs, the springs resting upon rigidcross-pieces connected to one of the webs; and also that a hinged endrail worked by an extensible rod have been employed for tightening upthe webs after they have sagged from use; but,

Having described my invention, what I claim is rIhe woven-wire webs AA', of the same degrec of elasticity, and having springs tinterposedbetween them, suspended from end rails, B B', the rail B' sliding in theflanged plates C' and operated by screws b, whereby the several partsare adapted to operate as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JAMES 'IALMADGE EINVELL.

Witnesses C. N. -WooDwARm Louis FEEsER.

